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I think it may be an individual thing. Suppose there had been an intercom system to that room, and someone called on it to ask a question, the MD would have answered the question.
Where I work, we use the pt. intercom to give nurses messages while they are in a room, whether or not it even relates to the pt. they are with. That irritates the devil out of me, and all of my co-workers know it :angryfire
What I suppose I was getting at, is that the phone is another means of communication, but it will take a while for some to see it that way. I probably wouldn't like it though.
I am an office RN. I refuse to see patients who are talking on a cell phone when they are supposed to be listening to me. One of them even had the nerve to hiss "just one more minute" when I told her I was the nurse to teach her about fingersticks. I left the office and was applauded by the secretary, who has had enough of patients on cell phones too.
I also work with an MD who has answered a cell phone during while performing a biopsy. The patient wasn't happy.:angryfire
My cell is off and in my purse while I'm at work.
Gotta agree with Deb, this needs to be reported. Was he talking while he was doing the pap, for pete's sake? I can just picture it, holding the phone with his shoulder while trying the position the speculum......what a jerk!
Tell your friend to find a new OB...no one should put up with that! :angryfire
I just have to tell you all this since we are on the subject....
Went to my GYN for annual....very nice woman....nurse comes in and tells her she has a call...she apologizes and leaves....when she returns and we are finishing up MY cell phone rings...(my mother was in the hospital at the time)...anyway my doctor says "go ahead and answer it...you waited for me, the least I can do it wait for you" Isn't that just fabulous??? She did wait for me and then expressed concern about my mother.....wish everyone of my docs was like that....
I agree, dump this OB, but not before you "call him" on his inappropriate and unprofessional behavior. I would let him know that since you had only half his attention during your exam, you will be paying only half his fee!
Also, report him to your insurance carrier. Complaints such as this can cause a physician to lose insurance company contracts.
Katydidit34
252 Posts
I'm curious to see if any of you have witnessed such an utter disregard for a patient's care and feelings. My good friend is pregnant with her second child. She goes for her first sono and needed a pap as well. She's in the stirrups, prepped for her pap when the doctor's cell phone rings, AND HE ANSWERS IT!!! She's laying on the table with her feminine business exposed and he stops to take a phone call. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, during her lady partsl sono, he has the probe inserted, he's examining the uterus, and guess what? THE PHONE RINGS AGAIN!!! And yes, HE ANSWERS IT!!! As a woman, I am absolutely apaulled, as a student of the profession and the daughter of a physician, I am angered. What absolute arrogance!! Have any of you ever seen anything like this? Maybe I'm just crazy, but I'm thinkin that this type of thing crosses the line. What do you think?